The Senior Deputy Speaker

House of Lords Chamber: Bishops

Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether he has asked (1) Lords Spiritual, and (2) other peers, for their views on whether the requirement for Lords Spiritual to wear robes of rochet and chimere in the Chamber should be referred to the Procedure and Privileges Committee.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: As Senior Deputy Speaker, I meet regularly with the Convenor of the Lords Spiritual and other members. I have discussed the requirements set out in paragraph 4.15 of the Companion with the Convenor of the Lords Spiritual, and a number of other members, and have had no suggestion that these matters need to be referred to the Procedure and Privileges Committee.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Self-harm

Lord Blunkett: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to remarks byLord Stewart of Dirleton on 29 April (HL Deb col 1704),what are (1) the make-up, and (2) the objectives, of the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) safety team, in relation to prisoners on IPPsentences in danger of self-harm.

Lord Bellamy: HMPPS Safety Group supports the safety of all prisoners, and within the group, one member of staff focuses on IPP prisoners, which includes taking forward the safety actions identified in the IPP Action Plan.Our refreshed IPP Action Plan, which will be published this summer along with our IPP Annual Report, now has a workstream dedicated to Safety with the main objective of supporting prisons to deliver safety improvements for those serving an IPP sentence.Our primary focus is on raising awareness of the heightened risk of self-harm and suicide of IPP prisoners and we have developed an IPP Safety Toolkit to support prisons.We will continue to monitor, analyse and share any changing or emerging trends in published IPP prisoner data with staff and to inform and update our guidance where appropriate.

Prisons: Visits

Lord Farmer: To ask His Majesty's Government what the visit rates were for (1) male, and (2) female, public sector prisons in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021, (c) 2022, and (d) 2023.

Lord Bellamy: Visits are managed locally by each establishment and data is not routinely assured and reported nationally. Collating and assuring the data in the format requested would incur disproportionate cost.His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service continue to promote the importance of offering different types of visits including family visits. We are aware that the Covid-19 Pandemic substantially impacted the numbers of face-to-face visits and stakeholders’ concerns over visitor numbers in some prisons being slow to return to pre-pandemic levels. There are a number of possible reasons for this including the introduction during the pandemic of additional ways in which families can stay in touch including the roll out of in-cell phones and secure video calls. Establishments have been working to provide a range of services to help prisoners develop or renew positive relationships. This includes using Official Prison Visitors, contracted family support workers, partnership work with external organisations such as New Bridge and the use of peer mentors.

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of sobriety tagging schemes.

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the success of sobriety tagging schemes, particularly for those convicted of serious assaults or domestic violence where alcohol was a factor.

Lord Bellamy: In advance of legislating for the introduction of the Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) for community based sentences to tackle alcohol related offending, the Government contributed to funding for two pilots to ensure robust evaluation of the effectiveness of the measure. The pilots were carried out in London and in the North East of England and findings informed the introduction of AAMR in 2020. AAMR enables courts to impose an alcohol ban of up to 120 days on adult offenders who are not alcohol dependent, compliance is monitored using an alcohol tag.Alcohol monitoring on licence was introduced in 2021 and enables probation to include an additional licence condition banning or restricting the consumption of alcohol, where a criminogenic need related to alcohol misuse is identified as an increase to risk. Funding has been allocated for evaluation of the processes, impact and value for money. A process and interim impact evaluation are expected to be published by the end of 2025. A full reoffending analysis and value-for-money assessment are expected by the end of 2026.Evaluations published to date can be accessed via the links below:MOPAC’s AAMR Final Impact Evaluation Report, December 2020 - aamr_final_impact_report_100521.pdf (london.gov.uk).Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement: A review of process and performance from Year 2, July 2018 - aamr_final_process_performance_y2_report_final.pdf (london.gov.uk).Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement The pan London roll out: A review of process and performance from year 1, July 2017 - AAMR Interim Report (london.gov.uk).Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement: South London Pilot Indicative Impact Report, April 2017 - Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement (london.gov.uk).HNLY Pilot Process Evaluation Report, October 2019 - Evaluation-of-the-AAMR-tagging-pilot.pdf (northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk). The AAMR pilot in the North-East focused on domestic abuse perpetrators, the process evaluation shows that 31% of wearers were convicted of a domestic violence offence. Compliance with the alcohol ban shows that the devices did not register a tamper or alcohol alert on 97.4% of the days worn. The impact evaluation (including for reoffending) is underway for this pilot and is also intended to be published.The evaluations to date and published statistics have shown a strong uptake of alcohol monitoring by courts and probation. The number of individuals fitted with an alcohol monitoring (AM) device as at 31 March 2024 was 2,862, a 27% increase over the previous 12 months. There were 12,506 new alcohol monitoring orders imposed across England and Wales in the year ending 31 March 2024. Overall, 24,305 new alcohol monitoring orders have been imposed since their introduction against an ambition of 12,000 by 2025 and compliance with the alcohol ban has remained consistent at over 97% for the total of days monitored. Electronic Monitoring Statistics Publication, March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Treasury

Companies: Insolvency

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent decline in corporate insolvencies, what steps theyare taking to (1) identify the factors they believe contributed to this reduction, and (2) ensure this trendcontinues.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government was pleased to see that statistics reported by the Insolvency Service showed the number of corporate insolvencies in March 2024 had fallen by 28% compared to March 2023.The Government continues to help businesses, including through a swathe of policy measures in the Autumn explicitly aimed at ‘Backing British business’. Recent and current Government policies supporting businesses include:· Energy Bills Discount Scheme that provided discounts on high energy bills to eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users from April 2023 to April 2024, with higher support to businesses in energy / trade intensive sectors.· Continued frozen small business rates multiplier and business rates relief for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector, the latter policy supporting around 230,000 properties up to £110,000 per business. Transitional Relief to protect ratepayers facing bill increases due to rising rateable value and scrapping ‘downwards caps’.· Payment and cashflow review outlining measures to combat late payments that can jeopardise stable cashflows, and penalising late paying firms by exempting those paying invoices after an average of 55 days from bidding for Government contracts worth over £5mn.The Government will continue to monitor the UK corporate sector, including insolvency trends, using official data and engaging with firms and business groups to inform policy decisions.

Mortgages: Islam

Lord Sharkey: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the disparities between conventional and Sharia-compliant mortgage products in respect of the imposition of capital gains tax.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The government is aware of a difference in tax treatment when a commercial or residential property is refinanced using alternative rather than conventional finance methods. In these situations, a capital gains liability may arise for those using alternative financing, when this would not have been the case for those using conventional financing. The refinancing of main homes is unaffected as Private Residence Relief (PRR) applies. On 16 January 2024, the government published the Tax Simplification for Alternative Finance consultation to seek views on reforms that would address the capital gains issue. The consultation closed on 9 April 2024 and all responses will be carefully considered and a summary of responses will be published in due course together with details of the next steps.

Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Line: Compensation

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Davies of Gower on 29 April (HL3718), inwhich circumstances, and why, it would not be applicable to apply theRoyal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' Red Book to HS2 property compensation cases.

Lord Davies of Gower: The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Red Book sets out the approach to be adopted for property valuation. It is not applicable to compensation cases where there is no claim for property value and the claim is limited to disturbance compensation or losses not based on the value of land, such as relocation costs.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Lord Leigh of Hurley: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of untaxed vehicles driving on UK highways.

Lord Leigh of Hurley: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of motor vehicles which are subject to a 'statutory off road notification' but are currently on UK highways.

Lord Davies of Gower: The outcome of the most recent roadside survey, which provides an estimate of the number of unlicensed vehicles in traffic, was published in December 2023. This showed that 98.7 per cent of vehicles across the UK were correctly licensed, which equates to an estimated 498,000 unlicensed vehicles and an evasion rate of 1.3 per cent. The survey indicated that five per cent of the estimated 498,000 unlicensed vehicles were subject to a statutory off-road notification.

Avanti West Coast: North Wales

Lord Wigley: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the train cancellations announced by Avanti West Coast for the summer do not negatively impact tourist-related businesses in the coastal resorts of north Wales.

Lord Davies of Gower: Avanti West Coast (AWC) plans to maintain current service levels between London and North Wales throughout summer 2024. Network Rail engineering works over six weekend days between May and August 2024 will, however, close parts of the North Wales Coast Line to all operators, with temporary changes required to accommodate these.The Department recognises the inconvenience that these works will cause, however, this investment in renewing and upgrading rail infrastructure is critical to meeting current and future needs of communities in North Wales. Alongside these crucial infrastructure works, AWC is working to introduce a brand-new fleet of bi-mode Hitachi trains offering more space and a quieter journey for passengers along the North Wales mainline.

East Coast Main Line: Timetables

Lord Bradshaw: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Gower on 29 April (HL3879), whether the latest announcement about the postponement of the introduction of an updated timetable for the East Coast Mainline Railway is due to the Office of Rail and Road's rigidity in agreeing access rights, which cannot be made flexible with the train operators' agreement.

Lord Davies of Gower: Timetable production and access rights issues are governed by Network Rail’s Network Code, which is regulated by the Office of Rail and Road. We expect the rail industry to work through these issues in order to deliver the upgraded timetable and realise the benefits of £4bn investment in track and train.

Dual Carriageways: Norwich

The Lord Bishop of Norwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1)Natural England, and (2) Norfolk County Council, about the proposed construction of the Norwich West Link.

The Lord Bishop of Norwich: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Natural England report Definition of Favourable Conservation Status for barbastelle bat, published on 8 March, which placed "favourable conservation status" on barbastelle bats present in the area ofthe Norwich Western Link, what assessment they have made of the viability of the construction of the Norwich West Link.

Lord Davies of Gower: In October 2023, the Government approved funding at Outline Business Case stage for the Norwich Western Link. This was subject to the scheme gaining the necessary planning and environmental consents. It is for the scheme promoter, Norfolk County Council, to seek those consents and to work with Natural England. The Council is still engaged in that process and has submitted a planning application for the scheme. The Council has also written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to seek clarity on the implications of the recent Natural England report for the scheme.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to ensure that the transition to electric vehicles supports the automotive industry.

Lord Davies of Gower: The Government continues to engage extensively with the automotive industry to ensure the transition supports the sector. Government has already spent over £2 billion to support the transition to ZEVs. This funding has focused on reducing barriers to the adoption of such vehicles to support demand, including offsetting their higher upfront cost, and accelerating the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure. The Government’s plug-in vehicle grants, favourable benefit in kind tax rates and generous tax incentives also remain in place to encourage the uptake of ZEVs. As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, the Government has also announced over £2 billion of capital and research and development funding to 2030, to further boost the UK’s competitiveness and unlock strategic investments in the automotive industry.

Great Western Railway: Trains

Lord Berkeley: To ask His Majesty's Government how many intercity train services operated by Great Western Railway are operating in unplanned short formation; what is the reason for this; and when the normal operating arrangements will be reinstated.

Lord Davies of Gower: 1.37 per cent of Intercity Trains were short formed in period 13 (the most recent rail period). Although more reliable than the trains they replaced, Great Western Railway has more intercity sets out of service than normal due to damage caused by infrastructure issues (such as flooding), the long-term crack repairs programme, and the impact of poor performance on the network. Great Western Railway is working with Hitachi Rail Group to resolve this and senior staff at Great Western Railway meet frequently with Hitachi counterparts to ensure that the necessary fleet numbers are available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Marine Animals: Fishing Catches

Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask His Majesty's Government how manymarine mammals were caught by vessels fishing in UK waters in 2023.

Lord Douglas-Miller: Marine mammal bycatch is required to be reported under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. According to the Marine Management Organisation six marine mammals were reported by fishing vessels as bycatch injury or mortality in 2023.There are various sources for marine mammal bycatch data in the UK. The UK Bycatch Monitoring Programme provides bycatch estimates for the UK; however, these have not yet been produced for 2023. The UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme diagnosed 16 cases of bycaught marine mammals in 2023 (covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland and which all occurred in England). In Scotland, the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme reports on incidents of marine mammal bycatch in Scottish waters.

Veterinary Medicine: Northern Ireland

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have had, or intend to have, discussions with the EU regardingthe implementation of a post-Brexit agreement on the supply of veterinary medicines to Northern Ireland.

Lord Douglas-Miller: The Government is committed to securing a long-term sustainable solution ahead of December 2025 that will properly support the flow of veterinary medicines into Northern Ireland from Great Britain on an enduring basis. We are determined to safeguard the supply of veterinary medicines, and we will pursue technical discussions with the EU to find a solution that removes barriers to supply; in return we are willing to provide assurances and safeguards to the EU. The Veterinary Medicines Working Group, including experts, industry representatives and elected representatives, will report back to Government on steps needed to secure supplies for the long term.

Immigration Controls: Borders

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support small businesses in adapting to additional costs for post-Brexit border checks.

Lord Douglas-Miller: To support SMEs, Defra has identified and issued guidance on a number of facilitations and mitigations to reduce the burden of sanitary and phytosanitary import requirements using groupage. The Common User Charge is designed to spread the costs to be recovered across the maximum number of imports. This approach distributes the cost across business of all sizes and sectors and provides a high level of predictability on costs for all importers. The impact of the Common User Charge on businesses, and especially on small businesses, will be kept under monthly and quarterly reviews, with rates reviewed and updated annually.

Import Controls

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Douglas-Miller on 12 March (HL2920),whether they will forecast the impact of different charges at different border control posts on traffic volumes, queues and emissions once the commercial ports have set their own fees.

Lord Douglas-Miller: It is up to individual commercial ports to determine their own charging structure and rates. This will allow ports to ensure costs cover their expenses while remaining viable for both industry and businesses. Border Control Posts are designed to handle high volumes of imported sanitary and phytosanitary goods and offer extended opening hours with staff working shifts on site to carry out reliable checks which minimise friction on traffic flow. The Government has worked with port and airport operators, traders, Port Health Authorities and the Animal and Plant Health Agency to make sure we have the right infrastructure, systems and resources in place.

Department for Business and Trade

Small Businesses: Mergers

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government, following the reported recent increase inmergers and acquisitions activity among medium-sized companies, whatsteps they are taking to support continued mergers and acquisitions activity whilst ensuring that it does not lead to (1) monopolistic practices, or (2) reduced competition in key industries.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The Competition and Markets Authority is the UK's independent competition regulator with responsibility for reviewing mergers and acquisitions on competition grounds.

Overseas Investment: Morocco

Lord Hannan of Kingsclere: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will seek an investment facilitation memorandum between the UK and Morocco at the forthcoming Association Council to support UK investment in Morocco ahead of the 2030 World Cup, similar to the agreement signed with Peru ahead of the 2019 Pan-American Games.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The UK Government is keen to strengthen trade ties with Morocco, which deliver mutual benefits. Both countries will be hosting major football tournaments later this decade, and the Government is working closely with Morocco to share knowledge ahead of the delivery of these events. In 2017, HM Government signed a government-to-government agreement with Peru to support the delivery of infrastructure for the 2019 PanAmerican Games on-time and on-budget. We plan to share our experience with the Moroccan government at the forthcoming UK-Morocco Association Council.

Department of Health and Social Care

Social Services: Reform

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish their Social Care regulatory reform programme and what new protected professional medical titles they are considering introducing.

Lord Markham: There are no plans to publish a social care regulatory reform programme. However, the Government has consulted on its proposed approach to modernising the legislation of the professional health and care regulators. As part of this work, we will consider whether to make any changes to the medical titles protected in law. Any proposals will be subject to statutory consultation, and the affirmative parliamentary process.The Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024 was made on 13 March 2024, and will bring Aanaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates into regulation by the General Medical Council (GMC), under a reformed regulatory framework. We are currently working on the next phase of reform, which includes introducing a new regulatory framework for medical practitioners. The future GMC order relating to the medical profession will be drafted and published for consultation in due course.

Radiotherapy: Waiting Lists

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the proportion of cancer patients currently waiting more than 31 days for radiotherapy treatment.

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of findings from the Royal College of Radiologists, published in May, showing a regional disparity in wait times for cancer treatment in 2023, with11 per cent of patients in England waiting more than 31 days for treatment after the decision to treat had been confirmed, compared to 19 per cent of patients in the North East and Yorkshire.

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are takingto ensure that the 15 per cent shortfall in clinical oncologists, as estimated in the Royal College of Radiologists workforce census, does not impact the operational performance of radiotherapy services.

Lord Markham: According to the latest data, of those 10,328 cancer patients referred for first or subsequent treatment for radiotherapy in March 2024, 89.7% were treated within 31 days. The proportion of patients waiting more than 31 days for radiotherapy treatment in March 2024 was therefore 10.3%. This has decreased by 4.5% since January 2024.We are aware of regional disparities in wait times for cancer treatment through NHS England’s data, and are considering the findings made by the Royal College of Radiologists. Tackling inequalities in outcomes, experience, and access of cancer diagnostics, including regional disparities, is a key focus of the Government. NHS England has commissioned six new cancer clinical audits in breast cancer, both primary and metastatic, as well as ovarian, pancreatic, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and kidney cancer. These will provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatments and outcomes for patients. The first outcomes of these audits are expected in September 2024.The Department is working closely with NHS England to make sure we have the right workforce with the right skills up and down the country. In 2023/24, NHS England invested an additional £50 million to increase the number of cancer and diagnostic specialists.The Government is also backing the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places. The plan sets out an aim to double the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32, and to work towards this expansion by increasing places by a third, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29.We are building our cancer workforce. In January 2024 there were over 35,200 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in the cancer workforce, an increase of over 13,300, or 60.7% since January 2010. Regarding clinical oncology specifically, as of January 2024, there are currently over 1,600 FTE doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 30, or 2.2%, more than last year, over 300, or 27.7%, more than 2019, and over 600, 66.5%, more than in 2010. This includes over 900 FTE consultants. This is over 40, or 5.1%, more than last year, over 100, 22.0%, more than in 2019, and over 400, 80.2%, more than in 2010.